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Va. Tech players awed by Yankees

Va. Tech players awed by Yankees

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- The Virginia Tech baseball players have more than just the memories from Tuesday's exhibition game with the Yankees. They've also got a lot of stuff.

Pitcher Brandon Fisher was carrying around Alex Rodriguez's batting gloves. After A-Rod was removed from the game, he came over to the Hokies' dugout to hang out with the players.

Rodriguez gave away a pair of bats, his wristband and batting gloves by asking trivia questions about himself. When nobody knew how many career home runs he had, Fisher threw out a lucky guess -- 518 -- and found himself with a piece of memorabilia.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi also contributed. He had 50 lineup cards printed out and signed each one, in addition to giving Tech coach Pete Hughes the team's large dugout card.

"He walked those over to our dugout twice," Hughes said. "He was genuinely excited to give them to us."

All of the players brought their digital cameras and posed for pictures with the Yankees as they finished taking batting practice.

They also got their commemorative hats -- maroon, with an orange NY logo -- signed by the Yankees.

During the game, it was catcher Anthony Sosnoskie who got to talk with the players the most. He made sure to strike up a conversation with all of the batters who stepped into the box.

When Derek Jeter came to the plate, Sosnoskie told him, "Mr. Jeter, we've got to get [championship] number 27." Jeter's response?

Sosnoskie tried to get some catching tips while Jorge Posada was at the plate, but apparently Sosnoskie was getting a little too talkative -- Posada told him he'd be happy to share, but he needed to focus on hitting first.

Hughes made sure to play all of his players at some point during the game, with the exception of his red-shirting freshmen. The coach called the National Collegiate Athletic Association office earlier in the week and asked for permission to play them during Tuesday's game but was denied.